In the related art, for example, as a sunroof device for a vehicle, a sunroof device (so-called an outer slide sunroof) which is disclosed in JP 2013-184648A (Reference 1) is known, The sunroof device for a vehicle includes a guide rail which is provided on each of both edges in a width direction of a vehicle of an opening formed on a vehicle roof, a sliding member which is linked with each of both edges in the width direction of a vehicle of a movable panel which is movably provided along each guide rail and opens and closes the opening, and an electric drive source which is driven to move both sliding members. In addition, the sunroof device for a vehicle includes a guide block (check block) in which an engagement groove is formed and which is provided on each guide rail, and a check (rotation check) which includes an engagement protrusion capable of engaging with the engagement groove and is connected to each edge in the width direction of a vehicle of the movable panel.
In a state where the movable panel is fully closed, the sliding member moves toward the front side of the vehicle with respect to the movable panel, the rear portion of the moveable panel is lifted with the front portion thereof as a support point, the movable panel is transferred to a tilt-up state, and in the tilt-up state, when the sliding member moves toward the rear side of the vehicle after the sliding member moves toward the front side of the vehicle with respect to the movable panel, the sliding member engages with the movable panel, and thus, the tilt-up state is maintained. Accordingly, in this state, when the sliding member moves toward the rear side of the vehicle, the moveable panel is opened in the tilt-up state.
In addition, in the fully closed state of the movable panel, the engagement protrusion of the check engages with the engagement groove, the movement of the movable panel is regulated when the sliding member moves toward the front side of the vehicle, and when the sliding member moves toward the rear side of the vehicle after the sliding member further moves toward the front side of the vehicle, the engagement protrusion is guided so as to be removed from the engagement groove, and the regulation of the movement of the movable panel is released.
However, in a controller which drives and controls an electric drive source, in order to realize the above-described operation of the movable panel, for example, it is possible to detect the position (hereinafter, also referred to as an “initial position”) of the sliding member in the fully closed state and store (hereinafter, referred to as “initialize”) the position. Specifically, in the fully closed state of the movable panel, since the engagement protrusion of the check engages with the engagement groove of the guide block and the movement of the movable panel is regulated, when the sliding member moves toward the rear side of the vehicle with respect to the movable panel, the electric drive source is overloaded according to the regulation of the movement of the sliding member. The controller performs detection or the like of the initial position of the sliding member based on the overload state of the electric drive source.
However, when the electric drive source is overloaded in the movement regulation state of the movable panel, for example, the guide block, the guide rail supporting the guide block, or the like is deformed, and a position of the sliding member, which is deviated from the original initial position of the sliding member to the rear side of the vehicle, is likely to be detected as the initial position. In addition, since the initial position of the sliding member is detected in the unstable state, there is a concern that accuracy of initialization may decrease.